 WE'VE had the Oscars, now let's hear it for the Boozers! To celebrate this week's publication of our 28-page Great Merseyside Pubs special, three wise, but wobbly, men set out on a classic crawl. And now it's time to -metaphorically, at least - hand out some very special awards. The idea was to visit six of our best, traditional city centre boozers. Obviously, we were spoiled for choice - dozens of places fit the bill - but, after sticking pins in a specially-made pub map, we had our half dozen (although, due to us setting too fast an early pace, we ran out of steam and only made it to five of them). ECHO readers will recall that, in our pub columns of yore - and the Pub Guide book they spawned - I was often joined on my, ahem, research trips by someone called Big Fat Joe, who I can now unmask in all his gory (sorry BFJ) as ECHO arts editor Joe Riley. Also crawling was Big Fat Martin, aka ECHO special features' editor Martin Rigby. So that makes a party of Big Fat Joe, Big Fat Martin and Relatively Slim Paddy.
 The "It's Got Loads and Loads of Awards, So It May As Well Get Another Award" award goes to ... The Ship and Mitre in Dale Street. It's 2.25pm and Big Fat Martin and I get things underway in the boozer which has been named pub of the year by Camra's Liverpool and Districts branch in each of the last three years. BFM, not a man who normally springs into action, is quickly into his drinking stride - there are always 12 real ales to choose from here and we enjoy the delights of bitter brews called Jarrow, Rooster's Special, Boggart Angel Hill and Derwent Winter Gold. Famously a plain speaker, the fat one tells me: "This place is geared towards drinking, not posing. And its wooden floors aren't covered by shag pile carpets. This is a good thing." The Ship has a laid-back atmosphere and, although it has a name as a real ale connoisseur's paradise, you don't need to have a big beer belly (though Martin has, to be fair), beard and Camra life membership to enjoy its relaxed vibe. A five-star drinking experience (and, incidentally, it doesn't just sell beer by the pint and half, but by the nip). | 
